INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Colonialism went out as a
political philosophy in the middle of the 20th century, but it seems alive and
well in the baseball mind of Rangers general manager Jon Daniels.

Japan today; the rest of Asia tomorrow.

As in Thursday.

Having already made a huge footprint in Japan, it appears the Rangers have
their eyes set on expanding their international player-procurement empire to
Korea. It could happen as soon as Thursday, the day bids are due for Korean
left-hander Ryu Hyun-Jin, a 25-year-old going through the same posting process
that netted the Rangers Yu Darvish a year ago.

The Rangers, along with Cleveland, Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Angels and
Chicago Cubs, have all reportedly inquired about Jin. Clubs must have their bids
in to MLB by 4 p.m. Thursday. The largest bid will be forwarded to Jin’s club,
the Hanwha Eagles, who will have four business days to decide whether to accept
the bid and sell Jin’s rights to a U.S. club or decline the bid.

If the Eagles accept the bid, the MLB club would then have 30 days to sign
Jin, who is represented by Scott Boras, which should make things entertaining,
to say the least.

We print all these details as a courtesy, but really you should familiarize
yourself with this process. It looks like the Rangers intend to make a habit of
being involved with top-flight talent from the burgeoning Asian market.

That’s where Daniels, the colonialist, comes in, though he apparently refuses
to don a pith helmet.

“We look at it like we did the Caribbean,” Daniels said at the end of the
first day of the MLB general manager’s meetings. “We focused on the Dominican
Republic first, got our hands around it and grasped it and then started
spreading to other countries, to Venezuela, to Panama, to Curacao.”

Look at what the Rangers have accomplished in the Caribbean after
re-establishing a presence in the Dominican after Daniels took over as GM for
2006. Since then, the club has moved on to sign Martin Perez (Venezuela), Leonys
Martin (Cuba), Jurickson Profar (Curacao) and Jorge Alfaro (Colombia).

Then Daniels and company set their sights on Asia. That first meant getting
into Japan and understanding the infrastructure. It helped them rediscover Colby
Lewis and then land Darvish. And they may not be done.

The Rangers are among a handful of teams to reportedly meet with 18-year-old
free agent Shohei Otani, who plans to bypass Nippon Professional Baseball
entirely and do his minor league development in the U.S.

The Rangers are also interested in 32-year-old right-handed reliever Kyuji
Fujikawa, who has been granted full free agency, meaning he can negotiate
directly with any MLB team.

Daniels declined to discuss Otani but did seem to acknowledge interest in
Fujikawa.

With Alexi Ogando moving to the rotation and uncertainty about free-agent
relievers Mike Adams (whom Daniels said was “unlikely” to return) and Koji
Uehara, the middle of the bullpen is the Rangers’ biggest hole.

The rotation, however, can’t be ignored.

The Rangers have filled one hole by moving Ogando. They still are a starter
short. The club has been in contact with the agent for Zack Greinke and is
canvassing the GM meetings for other potential options, most of whom would be
top-of-the-rotation pitchers and also long shots to be landed.

Jin isn’t considered a top-of-the-rotation pitcher like Darvish was and
certainly wouldn’t command the same kind of posting fee ($51.7 million). But he
is young, stout and left-handed. He averaged 62/3 innings per start and compiled a 2.66 ERA for the
last-place Eagles in 2012. He’s averaged 3.63 strikeouts per walk over the last
three years. The scouting report: He won’t overpower many hitters, but will
command his excellent changeup and can hit the low 90s with his fastball.

In recent years, MLB has sought to curtail wild spending on teenage prospects
in Latin America by installing pre-set spending limits. The club has a total of
$2.9 million to spend on international teenage free agents.

Jin doesn’t fall into that category. His signing wouldn’t count against
anything but the Rangers’ budget. It is essentially a loophole, a weakness in
the policy.

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